Reclaiming Motherhood from a Culture Gone Mad
Reclaiming Motherhood from a Culture Gone Mad

Author: Samantha N. Stephenson

Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor

Published: 2022-10-13

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 1681927764

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In the midst of a culture that is increasingly confused about sexuality, love, life, and our very identity as persons, the Church offers us the truth of who we are. For women, this truth is rooted in motherhood — not just biological but, even more, spiritual — because women are the bearers and nurturers of life. Yet it’s difficult to understand and defend the true value of motherhood when the lies that permeate secular culture have seeped into our own way of thinking, even in the Church. Reclaiming Motherhood from a Culture Gone Mad helps Catholics to peel back societal assumptions to understand the fundamental misconceptions fueling our culture’s attacks on marriage, motherhood, and the family. Examining current practices in light of these faulty assumptions will empower women in their own motherhood and equip Catholics to combat the culture of confusion by boldly proclaiming God’s vision for our lives. This book offers a deep dive into what the Church teaches on motherhood and its dignity, equipping us to understand the WHY behind those teachings. It is only by living within a vision that honors the self-gift of motherhood as the pinnacle of womanhood that love, and not self-interest, can begin to reorder our lives.

Diary of a Deadbeat Mom: The Road to Reclaiming Motherhood
Diary of a Deadbeat Mom: The Road to Reclaiming Motherhood

Author: Leigh Anne LeDoux

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2019-03-07

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9781797977140

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Someway, somehow, women find themselves branded and rejected by society. The shameful title of deadbeat mom, carries no weight as to what the actual truth of the matter is. What mother could leave her children for sex, drugs and alcohol? This book is the story of a woman who once did just that and overcame that title. The road to reclaiming motherhood is treacherous. There is a reality to face and in a world of instant gratification, this takes time. Success and results don't come instantaneously but with this book, you have entered into a Divine set up. Through this story, you will gain hope in knowing that you are not alone. Victory is attainable and you are victorious. Today is the first day of the rest of your life and rear view mirrors are made small for a reason. Put your hiking boots on and take the first step up what seems to be an unclimbable mountain. The families and loved ones affected by addiction will also gain hope in hearing what goes through the mind of a deadbeat mom. When I first began the journey of writing this book, I didn't know that it would take the path of throwing out a life raft to the loved ones. You may be tired and you may want to give up and that is understandable. What I want you to know is, although you don't know me, I have been praying for you for quite some time.

Reclaimed Life
Reclaimed Life

Author: Antranetta Tillman

Publisher:

Published: 2019-03-06

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13: 9781795593120

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Reclaimed Life Is about taking back your life. Take it back away from loads of laundry, tiredness and busyness and rediscovering who you are a part from mothering. Being a mother is a very important role we play but it isn't the sum total of who we are.

Moms Gone Mad
Moms Gone Mad

Author: Gina Wong

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9780986667176

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Impetus for this landmark collection emerged from the extraordinary success of the Moms Gone Mad: Motherhood and Madness Oppression and Resistance International Conference in New York City, 2009. Cultural meanings extolled on motherhood are often overlooked and many women struggle and personalize issues to themselves and remain silent. This anthology synthesizes and roars out marginalized experiences of moms in a culture that relegates unconventional experiences to 'craziness' and her own 'madness'. From a feminist perspective, scholars in motherhood across disciplines and mothers steeped in the experience have come together to capture multifarious experiences of oppression to resistance in a groundbreaking anthology that embodies motherhood empowerment. This book enhances dialogue and revolutionizes our understanding of motherhood constructions and experiences by exploring the underbelly of mothering and subjugated experiences such as women's inhumanity to women and deconstructing notions of 'mommy' in literature/media that are oppressive. Critical examinations of the 'good mother', 'mother-shame', and 'mother-guilt', growing up a daughter of depression, body image and disordered eating in motherhood, postpartum depression are explored as well as experiences such as single motherhood, mothering a child with disability, and childlessness; and perceived anomalies such as losing a child to suicide and postpartum psychosis and more.

Mothershift
Mothershift

Author: Jessie Harrold

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2024-11-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1645473066

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Explore this supportive, grounding guide for new mothers navigating the cascade of identity change and transformation that is motherhood—based on the internationally acclaimed program, Mothershift. Our modern, Western societal understanding of what happens to a woman when she becomes a mother—beyond emotional rollercoasters and healing her pelvic floor—remains largely uncharted territory. The transition to motherhood actually takes two to three years, not six weeks or three months as we’ve been led to believe. Mothershift offers a supportive, affirming road map to take women through this transformational process. Jessie Harrold introduces her “map for your becoming,” a research-based, four-phase model that maps out how the transition to motherhood unfolds and helps women to navigate every step along the way. She has used this model to guide thousands of women through the shift into motherhood. Harrold also includes self-inquiry questions and journal prompts in each chapter to help women identify and thrive amidst the cascade of changes they can expect as they enter motherhood. Topics include: Normalizing the feelings of grief and loss of self you may feel along the way. Navigating the discomfort of not knowing who you are anymore now that you’re a mother. Guiding you to cultivate a sense of empowerment and leadership in motherhood, showing you how mothering is a counterculture act. Showing you how to use the “superpowers” that motherhood can offer—self-tending, creativity, embodiment, ritual, community, inner knowing, and earth connection. Gently guiding you to explore who you are becoming.

Ordinary Insanity
Ordinary Insanity

Author: Sarah Menkedick

Publisher: Pantheon

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1524747777

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A groundbreaking exposé and diagnosis of the silent epidemic of fear afflicting new mothers, and a candid, feminist deep dive into the culture, science, history, and psychology of contemporary motherhood Anxiety among mothers is a growing but largely unrecognized crisis. In the transition to mother­hood and the years that follow, countless women suffer from overwhelming feelings of fear, grief, and obsession that do not fit neatly within the outmoded category of "postpartum depression." These women soon discover that there is precious little support or time for their care, even as expectations about what mothers should do and be continue to rise. Many struggle to distinguish normal worry from crippling madness in a culture in which their anxiety is often ignored, normalized, or, most dangerously, seen as taboo. Drawing on extensive research, numerous interviews, and the raw particulars of her own experience with anxiety, writer and mother Sarah Menkedick gives us a comprehensive examination of the biology, psychology, history, and societal conditions surrounding the crushing and life-limiting fear that has become the norm for so many. Woven into the stories of women's lives is an examination of the factors--such as the changing structure of the maternal brain, the ethically problematic ways risk is construed during pregnancy, and the marginalization of motherhood as an identity--that explore how motherhood came to be an experience so dominated by anxiety, and how mothers might reclaim it. Writing with profound empathy, visceral honesty, and deep understanding, Menkedick makes clear how critically we need to expand our awareness of, compassion for, and care for women's lives.

The Mothers of Reinvention
The Mothers of Reinvention

Author: Jennifer Pate

Publisher: Vanguard

Published: 2012-01-03

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1593156936

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A fun and passionate work of non-fiction exploring the modern mother’s path to reinvention, both in the home and in the workplace.

Motherwhelmed: Challenging Norms, Untangling Truths, and Restoring Our Worth to the World
Motherwhelmed: Challenging Norms, Untangling Truths, and Restoring Our Worth to the World

Author: Beth Berry

Publisher:

Published: 2020-04-25

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781734671704

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Today's mothers are struggling; though, it's not for the reasons most moms tend to think. We've been conditioned to believe our inadequacy is the reason we can't seem to "keep up" or enjoy mothering more, but nothing could be further from the truth. We aren't failing as mothers. We're mothering within a culture that is misleading and inadequately supporting us. Motherwhelmed is a deep, yet lighthearted exploration of the messy frontier of modern-day motherhood we're all struggling to navigate. With compassion, realness, and rich storytelling, Beth Berry: -Illuminates the mindsets and narratives keeping us feeling overwhelmed, disempowered, anxious, isolated, and riddled with self-doubt -Provides the perspectives and tools needed for mothers to rewrite their stories and reclaim a sense of wholeness -Shares from her 25 years as an idealistic, passionate, all-in mother of four daughters -Reminds us of our worthiness and reframes our importance This is not a book about parenting. It's a book about mothers, our greatness, and how important it is that we thrive. It's about untangling ourselves from the stories keeping us trapped and deconstructing those we've outgrown. It's about daring the lives we're here to live and, thereby, giving our children permission to do the same. Until we begin to organize our lives around not only our children's worthiness but also our own, mothers everywhere will continue to bear the brunt of cultural pain and dysfunction. This matters because we cannot be the changemakers we're meant to be while so heavily burdened.

The Myths of Motherhood
The Myths of Motherhood

Author: Shari Thurer

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 9780395584156

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"Given a voice, what would the Great Goddess, the Virgin Mary, Snow White's evil stepmother, or Portnoy's mom have said about child care, contraception, bonding, or breast-feeding? Would their feelings have mattered? After all, maternity has been constructed by men over the millennia. Aristotle thought mother's womb merely cooked father's seed. The Church preferred virgins to mothers, and Freud was father-fixated. Even a brief survey of history reveals a diversity of maternal practices and ideals that are at odds with each other as well as with the views of contemporary child-care experts and psychologists." ""I cannot recall ever treating a mother who did not harbor shameful secrets about how her behavior or feelings damaged her children," writes Thurer. Today our sentimentalized conception of the good mother casts a long, guilt-inducing shadow over real mothers' lives. Never has there been so much advice and so little agreement. Never have the ideals of motherhood been as ambiguous, psychologically demanding, and unforgiving. One conclusion is certain: the "good mother" is a cultural invention." "In this brilliant synthesis of history, psychology, the arts, and religion, Thurer shows how our current concept of the ideal mother, like all ideology, is culture-bound, historically specific, and hopelessly tied to fashion. Thurer exposes our current myths of motherhood as a backlash against recent gains in women's rights and control over their bodies." ""For thousands of years, because of her awesome ability to spew forth a child, mother has been feared and revered. She has been the subject of taboos, witch hunts, mandatory pregnancy, and confinement in a separate sphere. She has endured appalling insults and perpetual marginalization. She has also been the subject of glorious painting, chivalry, and idealization. Through it all she has rarely been consulted." The Myths of Motherhood, finally, is her story."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Dear Mama, You Matter
Dear Mama, You Matter

Author: Amanda Hardy, PhD

Publisher:

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13:

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Dear Mama, Once a baby is born, so much of the focus and energy turns toward them. It's natural for all the books and chatter to be about the baby. But, Mama, this book is all about YOU. You matter, too, and these words are my love letter to you. I want you to know: Hard is normal (but that doesn't mean it's any less hard). Perfection is a myth (and it's a dangerous one). You matter (big time). You are not alone (we're all in the same boat). I hope you find comfort and relief in that what you're experiencing in this transition is actually pretty darn "normal." Hard, but normal. One big reason it's hard, perhaps the most misunderstood and unacknowledged reason, is new parents are in the process of becoming something new! The magazines and dominant culture narrative love to talk about when we're going "back." Getting our body back. Getting our life back. Back to our old selves. This idea implies that we're just ourselves but with a baby in tow. As if a baby just fits into this carved out little corner of our lives and everything goes on pretty much as normal. This is an absolutely absurd notion, and I think it's actually hurting us. Imagine how differently you'd think about your postpartum and transition to parenthood if our cultural story was about reinvention and redefinition of ourselves, rather than going back. This book serves to give you some new and different tools, resources, and ideas for your difficult journey of parenthood and reduce feelings of fear, shame, or guilt. My hope is, after reading these words you'll feel more loved, more valued, and know you are enough. There is nothing I say in this book that I say with greater conviction and certainty than this: you are worthy of love, grace, and compassion, and you are enough. With love, Amanda